GEOGRAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



405 



gueso explorer. The expedition was sent out 

 by the Portuguese Government, and had for 

 its object the exploration of the interior of the 

 African Continent, particularly the river sys- 

 tems of the Zambesi and the Congo. The 

 commander of one division of the expedition, 

 Major Albert da Rocha Serpa Pinto, was emi- 

 nently fitted for his task by his experience in 

 African life, by his knowledge of the lan- 

 guages, and by his scientific attainments. 

 Born in 1840 and educated for the Portuguese 

 military service, he took part in 1869 in the 

 campaign against the rebellious chief Bonga 

 in the region of the Zambesi, and on that oc- 

 casion ascended that river as far as the Vic- 

 toria Falls. Ho then spent a considerable time 

 among the Comoro and Seychelle negroes, 

 hunting on the shores of Lake Nyassa, and 

 returned by way of Goa to Europe. The ex- 

 pedition arrived at the mouth of the Congo in 

 August, 1877, where they encountered Stanley 

 just at the completion of his trying march 

 through the dark continent. Stanley's attend- 

 ants, after their terrible experience, could not 

 be induced to encounter the toils and hard- 

 ships of another overland journey with Serpa 

 Pinto. The expedition consisted of two others 

 besides Serpa Pinto, Brito Capello and Ivens. 

 Not finding carriers in Loanda, they went to 

 the banks of the Congo in search of some. It 

 was while on this errand that they fell in with 

 Stanley. His exploration of the Congo River 

 obliged them to considerably modify their 

 plans, the ascent of the Congo and determina- 

 tion of its sources having been one of the 

 principal objects for which they were sent out. 

 They started from Benguela for the interior 

 on the 12th of November, 1877, accompanied 

 by an escort of fourteen soldiers and fifty-seven 

 carriers. Traversing the districts of Dombe, 

 Guillenguez, and Caconda, they reached Bih6 

 in March, 1878, after painstaking observations 

 in the little known regions through which they 

 passed. The positions assigned to some of the 

 localities by Sa da Bandeira differ in some 

 cases five or six degrees from the positions de- 

 termined by Pinto: according to the latter, 

 Benguela is situated in latitude 12 34' 17" S., 

 longitude 13 25' 21" E. from Greenwich, and 

 has an elevation above the level of the sea of 7 

 metres ; Dombe Grande is in latitude 12 55' 

 12" S., longitude 13 7' 45", with an absolute 

 elevation of 98 metres ; Guillenguez is in lati- 

 tude 14 3' 10" S., longitude 14 5' 3", and is 

 900 metres above the mean tide-mark ; Cacon- 

 da is in latitude 13 44', longitude 15 1' 51", 

 with an elevation of 1,678 metres; and Bih6 

 is in latitude 12 21' 40", longitude 16 49' 24", 

 and has an elevation of 1,670 metres. At 

 Bih6 the explorers decided to separate, Brito 

 Capello and Ivens journeying to the north- 

 ward to explore the river Cuanza, while Serpa 

 Pinto was to push on into the interior to the 

 eastward. Senhor Pinto had enjoyed good 

 health until his companions left him ; but, 

 after they had parted he fell ill of rheumatic 



fever, and was compelled to remain in Bih6 

 for three months, nearly consuming the whole 

 of the share of supplies which had fallen to 

 him on the division. His attendants abandoned 

 him, and he had to organize another party ; 

 and in May he made a start, although still suf- 

 fering extreme weakness and prostration. 



On the way from Benguela to Bihe they had 

 already made a geographical discovery of in- 

 terest, in finding the source of the Cubango 

 to the west of that place, instead of to the 

 east, as has been supposed. They obtained no 

 water until they reached Caconda, except by 

 wringing their tents when they were wet with 

 the cassimba or heavy night-dews. The dis- 

 trict of Dombe Grande is the most fertile por- 

 tion of Angola, nnd furnished corn for the 

 whole province during three years of drought. 

 At Caconda they fell in with an eminent natu- 

 ralist, Anchietta, who has preserved, during 

 the twelve years which he has passed among 

 the wilds of Central Africa, the elegant habits 

 of city life, receiving them in evening dress 

 and offering them tea in Sevres china. He has 

 a library well stocked with modern works, in 

 which he seeks relaxation from his engrossing 

 naturalistic researches and collections. Be- 

 sides the head-stream of the Cubango, Pinto 

 passed two affluents before arriving at Bihe, 

 and also the river Cuqueima, which is marked 

 on the maps as an affluent of the Cubango, 

 and was supposed to be one by Ladislaus Mag- 

 yar, but which Pinto was surprised to find 

 running north ; it curves afterward toward 

 the southwest, and is a tributary of the Cuan- 

 za. This stream forms the boundary-line of 

 the territory of Bih6, the greater part of which 

 country is governed directly by the chief, and 

 the remaining portions by chiefs who are sub- 

 ject to him. Starting from Bihe, he soon en- 

 tered a most interesting region, the magnifi- 

 cent plain of Cangala, in which within a few 

 miles of each other all the great rivers of 

 South Africa take their rise. This is a pla- 

 teau about 1,700 metres in altitude. A very 

 remarkable phenomenon is here exhibited. 

 The sources of great rivers flowing in different 

 directions are dovetailed between each other 

 without any perceptible water-partings. On 

 this one spot rivers which soon assume mag- 

 nificent proportions, and which finally empty 

 thousands of miles away from each other, in 

 the Atlantic, in the Indian Ocean, and in the 

 thirsty sands of the Kalihari Desert, all take 

 their rise within a few miles of each other, 

 flowing in opposite or diverse directions, only 

 separated by short stretches of the same level 

 plain. In some spots only a few paces sepa- 

 rate streams which feed the Congo, the Zam- 

 besi, and the Cubango. This plateau is the 

 southern limit of the Benguelan highlands. 

 Its climate is exceedingly salubrious ; and its 

 remarkable agricultural and commercial capa- 

 bilities render it one of the most promising 

 regions in Africa for colonization. In this 

 plain, which is transected by the twelfth par- 



